hardstyle kettlebell certification

Having been to Hardstyle Kettlebell Certification (HKC) workshops both as an attendee and assistance instructor, I can say that attending these Dragon Door workshops are by far the best investment I have made in terms of money and time. It was surprising to me that at the last Melbourne HKC I went to there were not nearly as many attendee as I thought would be. I supposed as a personal trainer I should be happy to know that not many trainers in Australia are coming to the course and that allow me to get ahead of my competition. So why am I telling you this? It’s very simple. I know the chances of you signing up for the course is very low even if you’re a personal trainer reading this. The truth is most personal trainers would not care to learn beyond their basic personal training certification and spend the money and time to sharpen their skills to make them a better trainer with a proven system. Maybe I’m wrong about you. If you’re keen to stand out from the typical trainers, then this is a workshop that will provide you a tool box of skills to make your clients move better without hurting themselves, become more functional and get in better shape. I say this not because I’m a Russian Kettlebell Challenge (RKC) Certified instructor. I can say this because I have attended not only other fitness courses but also other kettlebell instructor courses. It wouldn’t be right to make a comment on something that I have not tried before.

What is Hardstyle Kettlebell Certification About?

The Hardstyle Kettlebell Certification is not a GS (Girevoy Sports) training course.  If you’re looking to develop techniques to compete in G.S. then a GS training course is what you should be looking for. Bear in mind that G.S . is a sport and to compete or to train for a sport you need to develop certain qualities to perform well for a given sport. The qualities developed for different sports are different and obviously the qualities you need to train for required in G.S. is different from someone who needs to lose weight or compete in another sports. That means you can’t expect someone who excel in G.S to excel in a golf game. And obviously your clients or you don’t have to train the G.S. style if your goal is to lose weight and develop all-round fitness.

Hardstyle Kettlebell Certification is a workshop that provides you a skill set on how to use the highly effective kettlebells to help you or/and your clients to develop high level of  general physical preparation (GPP) that provides balanced physical conditioning in endurance, strength, speed, flexibility and other basic factors of fitness. Basically, GPP is the all-round fitness that everyone needs. If you’re a personal trainer, HKC is a perfect system to help your vast majority of your clients with average fitness to develop high level of GPP. Knowing how to expertly use the low cost kettlebells is great for personal trainers who are starting out on their own and don’t have too much to spend on fitness equipment.  Personally, I run a small personal training business and spending a lot of money on expensive and high maintenance equipment is not exactly the way to go. Doing HKC and using the kettlebells for my business is perfect. If you’re a athlete, HKC is perfect for you to build high level of GPP to ensure that you do not have limiting qualities that might adversely affecting your performance.

Although HKC is an entry-level system developed by Pavel for people to better prepare themselves for the more full on Russian Kettlebell Challenge (RKC) Certification, it is a kettlebell course that carries a lot of meat for any personal trainers who wants to be better.

The 3 Key Exercises in HKC

Sure it is only 3 exercises that you will learn compared to other courses that will give you a dozen or more. In fact, I must add that the course also teach the kettlebell deadlift. The 3 exercises are Hardstyle Swing, Turkish Get Up and Globlet Squat and these 3 exercises were cleverly chosen to be taught in the HKC. The hardstyle swing is perfect for anyone who wants a strong core, back and burn fat and it is a skill anyone should learn before they start to snatch. The Get Up is the best if not one of the best full body strength building exercise as well as a great exercise for conditioning the shoulder to hold, press and lockout the kettlebell overhead to prepare you for snatch and do the overhead press. The Globlet Squats developed by Senior RKC Dan John one of the best strength coaches around helps you open the hip to improve your squatting techniques.

This is where people missed the boat. Most people think that the more exercises you get to learn in a course the better value. Does that mean HKC is of less value because other providers are teaching more? Certainly not. Not with the foundation they lay down for you to learn how to perfect the techniques in the 3 moves and apply remedial drills and trouble shoot bad techniques commonly seen in swings, Get up and Globlet squats. Seriously, there is no point learning those 3 exercises or even more if you don’t know how to put things together and teach yourself or clients precise technique how to become fitter and stronger. Before I was a RKC, applying what I learn and using these 3 exercises alone helped some of my clients lose 12kg in 12 weeks and girls doing 24kg kettlebell Get Ups. This is the kind of improvement people want from training and certainly makes them feel great. To see proof, check out this link: http://www.kettlebellbootcamp.com.au

The HKC Test

I must stress that not everyone walk out of the HKC with the certification in hand. The standard is very high anywhere you attend the HKC. They have strict requirement on how the Get Up, Hardstyle Swings and Globlet Squats must be done. And I find that having to learn the exercises with strict standards not only avoid injuries it also allow myself and clients become stronger and fitter. Anyone who aim to pass the test certainly needs to prepare himself or herself.

The test involved the following:

Strength Test:

Male – 5 Chin Ups/Pull Ups

Female – 15 Sec Flexed Arm Hang

Technique Test:

Turkish Get Up (according to the standards in the HKC Instructor Manual)

Swing (according to the standards in the HKC Instructor Manual)

Globlet Squats (according to the standards in the HKC Instructor Manual)

So Why Do the Hardstyle Kettlebell Certification Before Everyone Else?

In my opinion, there are not that many Hardstyle Kettlebell Instructors in Australia although I believe there is going to be more soon especially after 2012 RKC. This is the time to get in before everybody else and improve your knowledge as personal trainer and become the rare few to be able to dramatically improve your clients’ fitness and strength. If you are using kettlebell already, not exactly sure how to use the kettlebell and deep down you know you and your clients can be fitter and stronger, then you should do yourself or your training clients a favour and do the HKC. Plus, the HKC workshops are taught by real world fitness experts who have to earn their senior RKC ranks and have high level of success in their training.

Ask yourself…are you going to learn from someone who have no real world application or someone who have been in the trenches? Personally, I took action and have made trips out of my way to attend the HKC, RKC, and spend time with Master RKC, Senior RKC and Team Leader. And each time I know I got better.

Be sure to watch the first ever HKC Certification video below:

Feel free to leave me a comment if you have any questions.

Kettlebell Deadlift as mentioned in the previous blog post is a very important functional movement everyone should be able to do with high proficiency before attempting the kettlebell swings. Kettlebell deadlift is a slower movement compared to kettlebell swings but very similar in the way that they involved the “hip hinging” movement in the hips. Because it is slower, it is a lot easier to learn to do the “hip hinging” compared to the more functional and explosives nature of the kettlebell swings. To learn how the “Hip Hinging” movement in your hips can prevent bad back, go to this link: Kettlebell Deadlift Right or Hurt Your Back

Again, learn to do this Kettlebell Deadlift very well before you go learn how to do the kettlebell swings at this link: http://www.kettlebellbootcamp.com.au/blog/kettlebell-swing-your-step-by-step-instructions/

Step 1: Set Up

Stand with a shoulder-width apart stance and park the kettlebell between your feet. Pinched your shoulder blades together, straightened your arms by tensing your triceps muscles, stiffened the core muscles and ensure that your shoulder joints are pulled as far away as possible from your ears. Then get ready to sit back into your hips by hinging from your hip.

Step 2: Pick Up

Hinge over from your hips and sit back into your butt and start feeling a stretch both in your hamstring and glutes. Arms should be straight with tensed triceps muscles as you approach the kettlebells on the descend. As you reached the kettlebell, you should grip the kettlebells tight in your hands to allow increased muscle recruitment. During the descend, your lats and core muscle should be tight and a neutral spine should be maintained. Be sure that your bodyweight should be on your heels and inhale as you descend. Please note that your shoulder should never be below your hips.

Step 3: Stand Up

While maintaining the bodyweight on your heels,  exhale and lift the kettlebell off the ground with tight grip and maintained a neutral spine. Be sure to tense both the quads muscles (front part of your thighs) and glutes muscles at the top.

 Once you complete Step 1 to Step 3, you would need to bring the kettlebell back close to the ground while maintaining the neutral spine seen in Step 2. But this time return to Step 3 without the kettlebell touching the ground to repeat for repetitions. Here’s a video below that I made for you to explain in details how you can perform this kettlebell deadlift in the safest way possible.

If you want to learn more about other kettlebell exercises, do grab your FREE Access to the Online Basic Kettlebell Training right at the bottom of this blog.

When it comes to kettlebell training, it seems that most beginners are too eager to pick up the kettlebells,  swing away and move on to the more advanced moves such as kettlebell snatches and cleans without spending time working on the foundational movement such as Turkish Get Up and Kettlebell Deadlifts. Well, this is the feeling I get after spending time as a kettlebell instructor teaching people how to use the kettlebells. Honestly, I don’t have a problem seeing people doing that as long as they possessed quality functional movement skills. The truth is good percentage of people don’t possessed that skill. In my opinion, one of the most important functional movements is the deadlift which I find very lacking in most people who have a sedentary job that forces them to sit all day. Just a quick word of warning, you probably want to avoid the kettlebell swings if you have not learned how to do the kettlebell deadlifts properly.

Kettlebell Deadlift Could Be Your Life Saver

If you’re wondering why you’re always getting back pain, the chances are you have a weak core and your bend over lifting posture which is the deadlift move is bad. Most people think that solving back problems can be done simply by training the low back muscles doing exercises such as back extensions or training the core through crunches and sit-ups. It seems logical that such approaches developed high level of strength in the low back and core to prevent any back troubles. But the truth is a strong low back or so-called “strong core” may not save you from pain troubles. According to Dr Stuart McGill an authority in low back pain studies, muscle strength in the low back cannot predict who will have low back troubles based on  several studies.

Kettlebell deadlifts is one of the first kettlebell exercises that I teach to newbies in my Perth kettlebell classes. Most people would think how difficult is that. In most cases (it’s like 99/100), people who first come to my kettlebell training cannot deadlift properly to save their life. In fact, it’s like disaster waiting to happen with the back ready to blow up anytime because the technique is just so bad. The problem is most people overload their low back area with bad deadlifting technique.

The worst thing I heard about deadlift is that it is bad for the low back. Just because you hurt your back doing deadlift does not mean that the exercise is bad for the back. It’s like you were learning how to ride a bicycle and fell off the bike and say it’s unsafe to ride again. The problem is you have not learn the right way to do deadlift that’s why you hurt your back.

Think about it…how often do we bend over a day and pick up stuff? My guess is it is alot and it’s almost avoidable to deadlift in our daily movement. If you are a dad or a mum, you are most likely have to perform a deadlift (which is bend over and pick up stuff) to pick up your children who maybe as heavy as 15kg or more on a daily basis. If your work requires heavy volume of manual labour, you too have to deadlift on a daily basis. In fact, there are many other things you do in a day that requires you to deadlift. Does it make sense that you should be trained to do deadlift well to cope with all these daily demands? So you won’t have hurt your back.

Why Kettlebell Deadlifts?

Using a kettlebell to train your deadlift is perfect because you are allowed to bring the weight up from between your feet. This is a common situation we are in when we lift heavy stuff off the ground. When kettlebell deadlift is done the right way, it will teach the body to distribute the load efficiently across several joints in your body thus sparing too much unhealthy loading on you low back. As Dr Stuart McGill said in his book “Ultimate Back Fitness & Performance”, “Training a whole-body motion involves balance of force throughout the linkage. Too much force, or too little at a joint, or force applied at an incorrect time results in poor performance and injury”.

Therefore, it is important that you train movement and not muscles when you are doing the kettlebell deadlifts. In fact, you should always train movement and not muscles when you used the kettlebells. When your kettlebell deadlifts are spot on, then it is a good time to move on to high performance kettlebell swings as the chances of hurting your back on a kettlebell swing is much lower. To learn how to do the kettlebell swings, go to this link: Step-by-Step Instructions How to Do Kettlebell Swings

Benefits of Doing Kettlebell Deadlifts

Doing kettlebell deadlifts right not only helps prevent back pain, it also has 3 other benefits:

Benefit #1 – Improve your posture by strengthening your posterior chain muscles that includes your low back, hamstring, glutes and upper back musculature. This is exactly what a office worker need. 

Benefit #2 – Tone up the butt cheek and hamstring muscles

Benefit #3 – Develop highly functional hips that spare excessive loading on your spine and thus prepare the body for kettlebell swings

I’ll be back in the next blog post on how to perform the kettlebell deadlift safely. So if you want to be updated on the next blogpost. Please do sign in for the FREE Online Kettlebell Training Video right at the bottom of this blog. 

BTW, hope you enjoy this blogpost. Please leave me a comment below so I know you’re reading this blogpost. Thanks in advance!

Yes I’m a kettlebell instructor and I say kettlebell training sucks when it is done the wrong way. I decided to do this blogpost because I have recently met someone who told me his friend did not get any of those benefits you’re supposed to get from kettlebell training. What really ticks me off was his friend told him not to waste his time with kettlebells because he had failed in his attempt to use the kettlebells the right way. I can understand why because before I got any decent instructions, the benefits I got from kettlebell training was minimal because the training sucks. It’s easy to blame anyone when things are not going your way. The point here is it is important to understand that the kettlebell is a tool and it is useless if you don’t know how to use it or let it sit there collecting dust.

The truth is most people don’t know how to properly use the kettlebells to their advantage and decided that it is a fad after failing miserably. Watching instructional videos and dabbling with the kettlebell just don’t cut it.

If you’re in the same shoe and you’re hardly getting any benefits of kettlebell training, the following reasons could be why your kettlebell training sucks.

Reason #1 – No Proper Instructions

Kettlebell training is certainly not something you can just picked up by watching a instructional DVD or Youtube Video. Not only is detailed step-by-step instruction needed, most people would required coaching involving feedback from a kettlebell instructor to ensure that the best kettlebell training technique can be acquired. Like I always hear from my new kettlebell training clients, it’s impossible to learn the proper technique of Turkish Get Up and other kettlebells moves from books and magazines. Although the kettlebell swings look like a straight forward movement, most people are doing it all wrong. If you’re doing it all wrong, it’s not the equipment’s fault and you can’t really say that kettlebell training don’t work.

Reason #2 – Low Quality Movement

Getting the best health and fitness benefits from kettlebell training requires quality movement. It’s not about how many repetitions you do. If you can do 1000 swings but they are of low quality, you’re not going to strengthen your core muscles and developed explosiveness in your hip and get any of those great benefits of Hardstyle Swings. In fact, you will be lucky not to blow your back if you haven’t been doing it right.

Reason #3 – Lifting Too Much

Lifting way too much and compromising on form is another great reason why kettlebell training sucks. This is so common and I see it happened so many times. Very often, I see people going heavy when trying to learn the Turkish Get Up moves but got nowhere even after weeks. It’s because the weight is simply too heavy for proper learning to take place. And the people who are patient enough and started the Turkish Get Up with no weights experience the most overall strength increase. This is not just for the Get Up, it applies to all the other kettlebell moves.

As what RKC Chief Instructor says in his book titled “Naked Warrior“, Grease The Groove. What does “Grease The Groove (GTG)” means? GTG means to PRACTICE an exercise at submaximal intensity and focusing on perfect techniques. Loading up will not allow GTG, it will make perfect practice impossible. With enough perfect practice, you will be able to experience stronger lifts.

Reason #4 – Going to the Wrong Kettlebell Instructors

These days almost every personal trainer you meet will claim that they know how to use the kettlebells. Seriously, who you go to for learning how to use the kettlebell can make a huge difference. I hate to say anything bad about anyone but I have seen some really bad techniques that personal trainers got their clients to do. It is no wonder those clients did no have anything positive to say about kettlebell training.

If you used a kettlebell instructor, be sure to check that he is a  Dragon Door Certified RKC or HKC Kettlebell Instructor. Yes I’m biased and that’s because I can say it due to the unique experiences I have with different kettlebell training organizations.

Reason #5 – No Proper Progression

Everybody wants to snatch, press heaps of weight and clean and jerk but no one wants to work on the basic.  Learning the basics such as kettlebell swings is laying the groundwork for better progression and bigger gains. A well-trained kettlebell instructor will understand that teaching the swings helps his client to learn the hip hinging movement. And in most cases, it would require performing kettlebell deadlift properly. The problem is many see that it’s so cool to do kettlebell swings, they just jump right into it and hurt their back. The worse thing is they start snatching without knowing how to hip hinge which is fundamental to protecting the low back. Good luck to the shoulders!

BTW, if your kettlebell instructor get you to snatch on the first day of training and you haven’t quite got your swings right, take care of your back and shoulders.

Reason #6 – Expecting Fast Results

Are you kidding me? There is no such thing as fast results if you don’t know what you’re doing and  have not put in the hard work. The problem these days is everyone wants everything on steriods. BTW, it depends on how you define fast results. I got female clients who train hard and smart went from hardly pressing 12kg kettlebell overhead to pressing 20kg kettlebell overhead with strict form in 8 weeks with a boring programme. To me, that’s fast. But to some, it may not. The point I’m driving at is you got to put in time and effort into kettlebell training before you can expect any results and benefits.

Do yourself a big favour if you really want to get all the great benefits of kettlebell training and learn how to properly use the kettlebells, check out the Dragon Door Certified Instructors in your countries at this link: http://www.dragondoor.com/instructors/rkc_instructors/

BTW, thanks for reading about my rant! If you enjoyed my rant, please hit the “LIKE” Facebook button below. Thanks in advance!

When you get to spend time with a Master RKC Instructor, RKC Team Leader and RKC II at the same time, you know you’re going to have a mind-blowing weekend of kettlebell training. Last weekend, I got to spend time with Master RKC Dave Whitley, RKC Team Leader Andrew Read and RKC II Shannon Scullin. Been a personal trainer and RKC wanting to polish up my skill as a fitness professional, I know I have to make it to Dragon Door Australia when I hear that the Master RKC Dave Whitley AKA Iron Tamer is visiting Australia for a Hardstyle Kettlebell Certification (HKC) Saturday workshop and full day kettlebell training Sunday workshop. The kettlebell training over the weekend was so good that I felt that it was worth cancelling all my personal training sessions on Friday and Saturday just to be there on the weekend.

Last weekend, I flied in from Perth on Friday morning with very little sleep and got an one-on-one kettlebell training session with Iron Tamer, helped out as an assistant instructor at the Saturday HKC and attended the Sunday workshop. By the way, it was great to see how one of my Perth kettlebell training client Su Mei passed her HKC and earned her well-deserved certification.

Training One-on-One the Iron Tamer

That’s Master RKC Dave Whitley tearing up that phone book he found in Dragon Door Australia as a warm up. Dave is one strong dude who can tear phone books , bent horse shoes for fun and does many seemingly impossible strongman feat. So don’t mess around with him. Just kidding, he’s actually a very nice and knowledgeable man. He’s the rare and select few selected by RKC Chief Instructor RKC to hold the Master RKC title which is the highest rank in the RKC.

Knowing that any RKC certifications workshop cannot be taken lightly, I booked in for a personal training session with Master RKC Dave Whitley to help me prepare for RKC II Certification workshop next year April in St Paul. To me, why re-invent the wheel trying out things yourself and risk getting injured when you can get the best advice from the highest rank RKC. Within an hour of personal training, my techniques on bent press, clean jerk and Viking push press all got so much better. When it comes to technique, it is never taken lightly in the RKC. BTW, you can find out more about Master RKC Dave Whitley at this link: http://irontamerdavidwhitley.com/

About the Hardstyle Kettlebell Certification (HKC) Workshop

Unlike other kettlebell courses, HKC focuses on quality and not quantity. That is why this one day kettlebell workshop is spent on working on only Turkish Get Up, Kettlebell Swings and Globlet Squats. Yes it is only 3 exercises. It may not seem much and  some may think it’s ridiculous to attend a workshop that just teaches only 3 kettlebell exercises compared to some courses that give you like more than a dozen. In fact, that was what I think before but after I attended the HKC back in March my view has changed. Having attended other kettlebell workshops from other organisation, I found that what I’ve taken from the HKC course was give my clients better results in terms of fat loss, movement efficiency and strength just from using the 3 kettlebell exercises. The point I’m trying to drive at is you get better results doing basics well than be average in doing too many things.

At the HKC, the precision required to perform the Turkish Get Up, Kettlebell Swings and Globlet Squats is very high. High level of effort is put in to ensure that everyone does those 3 lifts almost at the same standard. That’s why it takes a full day and it is a top notch kettlebell training course. And anyone who trains with a Dragon Door Certified kettlebell instructor can almost guaranteed that they will learn those 3 lifts with same level of standard. You won’t get the Turkish Get Up done in any other way.

That’s RKC II Shannon Scullin the highest rank RKC in Australia on the left demonstrating the Globlet Squats. She’s got this exceptional observation for details and she is very strong. She was swinging a pair of 32 kg kettlebells on the weekend which would put many men to shame. To find out more about her thoughts on training, go to her blog at http://shannonscullin.wordpress.com/. Why only Turkish Get Up, Swings and Globlet Squats? I think RKC Chief instructor Pavel is a genius when you look carefully at this cleverly put together kettlebell training course. Turkish Get Up is an awesome full body strengthening exercise for anyone to develop core strength, shoulder mobility and shoulder stability to deal with overhead lifts. With the Hardstyle kettlebell swings, this exercise builds strength in the posterior chain, improve posture and develop cardio fitness in record time. It’s what everyone need. Lastly, the globlet squats developed by RKC Team Leader Dan John helps develop fundamental movement squats pattern and build leg and hip strength lacking in most people. Now, put these 3 exercises together it will condition one to improve cardio fitness, developed overall body strength, strong hip and back and ready to snatch and press the kettlebells. BTW, no one should lift weights overhead unless he has excellent core, hip and shoulder strength and the combination of these 3 lifts in HKC developed those qualities. To me, that is a very smart. And I wonder why there is a need for any overhyped sophisticated expensive exercise equipments that often only does one thing. Like what Master RKC Dave Whitley said: “Kettlebell Training is low tech but high concept training.” You don’t need many equipments to get fit you only need a kettlebell.

How to do Kettlebell Swings

As mentioned in the previous post, kettlebell swing is such an important kettlebell exercise that you should get it right. Why? It will give your powerful hip drive that will have a profound impact on your kettlebell cleans and snatches. It is so common with most beginners that they want to do the snatches and ignore their swing techniques. Big mistakes! If your swing sucks, your snatch will not be that great. To find out how more about how kettlebell swings can make your snatches better, go to this link: Just Do the Swing

BTW, the Hardstyle Kettlebell Swings burn tons of fat. If you’re looking for a simple exercise to lose weight, then this is it. Ok here are the steps to ensure you get your kettlebell swings going in the right directions.

Step 1: Set Up

Get behind the kettlebells about 1 to 2 foot length away. Lean over from your hip while maintaining a neutral spine posture and grip the handle of the kettlebell firmly with both hands. Tilt the kettlebell towards you to form an extension of your arms as seen in the picture above and feel a good stretch on your hamstring muscles when you sit back. At this point, you should get ready to contract your lats muscles to swing the kettlebell behind your hips without changing your posture. Be ready to breath in through your nose when you are swinging the kettlebells back.

Step 2: Hike Pass

Sniff or breath in while swinging the kettlebell back between your legs at the same time. Aim to get the upper arms to contact your ribs and forearms to contact your groin. At this point, your lats muscles are tight and hamstring are stretched.

Step 3: Hip Punch

With a braced core, snap your hips to the front using the “hip punch” to drive the kettlebell up to the shoulder level without using your arms. Be sure to get full hip extension where you hip is right under your shoulders. Your arms are quite relaxed although the grip is tight. Quick Tip: The hip should come forward before the arms start raising with the kettlebell.

 Ok here is a video below that explains how to do the kettlebell swings:

If you want to learn more about this Hardstyle Kettlebell Swings and ensure that you are doing it with the best techniques, be sure to get your FREE ACCESS Kettlebell Training Video below:

In this training video series, you will learn how to do the following: - Kettlebell Deadlift - Hardstyle Kettlebell Swings - Globlet Squats To Get Your FREE “Hardstyle” Kettlebell Training Course, Simply Enter Your First Name and Best Email below:

Why You Should Consider Dragon Door Kettlebells?

Dragon Door Kettlebells are by far the best premium kettlebells I have come across after having used many makes that are found in Australia. If you are training “Hardstyle” with kettlebells meaning you are training to develop all-round fitness and athleticism, then the premium military grade Dragon Door or RKC kettlebell is the choice. I may sound biased because I’m Russian Kettlebell Challenge (RKC) Instructor. Seriously, I’m not biased. I have bunch of different kettlebells from everywhere that includes the Progrades/Traditional kettlebells, Adjustable kettlebells and the really cheap ones from the local shop. My training clients and I prefer to use the Dragon Door kettlebells when using the 24kg kettlebells even though we could use the other ones. That’s what I got now.

Seriously, when it comes to price you pay for what you get. In the past, I made a mistake recommending my kettlebell training clients to some of the local shops in Perth to get the cheapest kettlebell possible to help them save money. It is all good intention but I feel that I am doing them a disservice now. They came back and told me it’s not worth the savings. The problems with cheap and inferior grade kettlebells are that they are horrible in the finishes especially with the handle that not only hurt your grip, they also rust and chipped off like crazy. Seriously, you want those bells? Just look at the picture below:

Ok here are the 5 Reasons why you should consider getting the Dragon Door Kettlebells.

Reason #1 – Excellent Finish & 5 Year Warranty on the E-coating

They look great and have an excellent finish. It is e-coated to prevent rust. This magnetized coating is what they used in ship hulls to prevent rust and damage. Now you can imagine how tough this Dragon Door made Military Grade kettlebell is.

Reason #2 – The Coat Does Not Chipped

Like I said, it is e-coated. The coat does not chipped like some bells. Seriously, when it chipped they not only start to rust the handles will be rough and be uncomfortable to grip. Also, it is a mess when you used it in indoor.

Reason#3 – It’s Whole Piece NOT Two Pieces

Dragon Door Kettlebell is made up of one piece not 2 pieces attached together. There are some kettlebells in the market that are made of two pieces. What I meant is the handle is soldered to the actual cast iron ball itself. It can be hard to tell. Honestly speaking, is your safety worth anything? I wouldn’t want to swing or snatch with the ball part of the kettlebell flying out.

Reason #4 – Great Handling & Thick Handle

Dragon Door Kettlebells has excellent grip texture unlike some glossy looking coated kettlebells that have sticky grips or bells that have either rough grip or smooth grip texture. I believe because of the excellent grip texture, RKC bells greatly reduce the chances of calluses that can lead to skin tear when you snatch or swing a lot. There are some poorly made kettlebells that make resting the kettlebells on the wrist bones very uncomfortable and pull the tendons and muscles of the forearm so badly that you can get a really bad cramp doing the Turkish Get Up or presses.  RKC kettlebells have no such problems.

Reason #5 – Build to Last and It’s Gonna Look Great in Years to Come

Dragon Door kettlebells are built to last. Unfortunately, many people rather invest in poorly made kettlebells and not buy quality bells such as Dragon Door kettlebells because they cost more. To me, it is weird because it is a one-time cost and the price difference may be between $20 to $30 for the same weight. If you think about it, it does not make any sense to invest in the cheap kettlebells when they do not last more than a year. Is it worth saving that $20 to $30 over ruining your hands, wasting your time repainting those low grade kettlebells and see your kettlebells become worthless when you want to sell it?

BTW, here is a video from RKC Team Leader Andrew Read from Dragon Door Australia explained why Dragon Door kettlebells are far better than the rest of the competition. 

If you are looking for premium quality kettlebells and you live in Perth, the Dragon Door Military Grade Kettlebells are going to be available through me and should be in by end of October. If you want to get your hands on them and pre-order through me, contact me through this link. The orders are strictly for pick up only. Again, to place order, go to this link: Buying Dragon Door Kettlebells in Perth

If you don’t live in Perth and live in Australia, you can get them through Dragon Door Australia via this link: http://www.dragondooraustralia.com/

Hardstyle Kettlebell Training For Quick Fat Loss

If your goal is pure fat loss, then be focused on the goal of fat loss. When it comes to fat loss with maximum efficiency and I mean fast, there is nothing that comes close to Hardstyle Kettlebell Training. The following are the 4 reasons by Hardstyle Kettlebell Training is time-efficient approach to get the excess fat off the body.

Reason #1 – Kettlebell Training is Full Body Movement

Unlike conventional bodybuilding training, kettlebell training does not work target on working individual muscle parts. Instead, it is an approach where you train the movement and train the body to move in the way that it is intended to. That means it trains the body to learn to move as a whole functional unit and reduce energy linkages. Because kettlebell training is primarily made up of compound movements, no muscles in your body are spared. Why work on individual muscle parts when you can work them all together at the same time? When all or majority of the muscle part are worked at the same time, you will get more calories burnt and increase the metabolic demand making kettlebell training a very efficient workout.

Reason #2 - Fast Muscles Contraction in Ballistic Kettlebell Moves Consume High Amount of Calories & Boost Metabolism

Study has shown that explosive muscle contraction in resistance training burn significantly more calories compared to slow muscle contraction. With fast contraction, there is a preferential activation of fast-twitch fiber. Activation of fast-twitch fiber used 3 to 4 times more energy than slow-twitch muscle fiber. If you’re aiming to lose weight, activating your fast-twitch fiber to boost your caloric demand and boost your post-workout metabolism is one strategy you must used. When you do “Hardstyle” kettlebell swings, cleans and snatches, they will help you burn massive amount of calories and boost metabolism because they required fast muscle contraction.

Reason #3 - Intense Resistance Training Increases Post-Exercise Metabolism

“Hardstyle” Kettlebell Training is a form intense resistance training. Research has found that intense resistance training increases Excess Post Oxygen Consumption (EPOC) for up to 48 hours. EPOC refers to the amount of oxygen required to burn fuel to return the body back to complete recovery state. Obviously, the longer the EPOC the better because you can take advantage of the fat-burning effect that follows after an intense kettlebell session. With steady-state physical activities such as walking and jog, you do not get that sort of metabolic effect. If you want to lose fat in a hurry, then the slow steady-state form of workout is no go.

Reason #4 - Evidence that Kettlebell Training is Great for Fat Loss

In 2010, a team of research experts at University of Wisconsin, La Crosse Exercise and Health Program were funded by ACE (American Council on Exercise) to do an informal study to analyze the energy cost and exercise intensity of a hardstyle kettlebell training program called the Viking Warrior Conditioning. 10 people who are experienced in kettlebell training were recruited for testing. The Viking Warrior Conditioning workout is made up of hardstyle snatches. According to the lead researcher John Pocari, Ph.D., the participants were burning 20.2 calories per minute which is equivalent to the running pace of 1.6km in 6 minutes (6-minute mile pace). Co-researcher Schnettler, M.S said that it is a quick workout and you get a big bang for your buck in a very short amount of time.

If you’re busy and looking for an effective way to lose weight and burn fat and not spend too much of your precious time, then Hardstyle Kettlebell Training is the way to go.

Should You Do Hardstyle Kettlebell Training?

What is Hardstyle Kettlebell Training?

For awhile, I was like most people did not know that there is different style of kettlebell training.  And many of clients do not know what it is and I thought I blog about what I know about “Hardstyle” Kettlebell Training and share with you my understanding.

So what is “Hardstyle” Kettlebell training? It is definitely not “Kettlebell Lifting” which is more of an endurance sport itself that started off in Russian in 1948. Is there any similarities between “Hardstyle” Kettlebell training and “Kettlebell Lifting” also commonly known as GS (Girevoy Sports)? I would say there is more differences than similarities. But I’m not going to touch on so much of the differences or similarities between the two instead I’ll focus on what is Hardstyle Kettlebell Training.

Hardstyle kettlebell training is a training method that uses the kettlebell to develop high level of general physical preparation (GPP). What is GPP? According to late Mel Siff in his Supertraining book, GPP provide balanced physical conditioning in endurance, strength, speed, flexibility and other basic factors of fitness. 

In the RKC Certification manual, I quote “RKC is a “hard style” of kettlebell training born in the spec ops of the Soviet Union. In the 1970s select units adopted a karate-based style of hand-to-hand combat. The hard style of kettlebell training evolved in the 1980s to support the hard style of fighting. Today RKC is a general physical preparation system for sports and professions that demand high levels of strength, power, and anaerobic conditioning.”

The truth is “Hardstyle” Kettlebell Training” is like a branch of training under the RKC also known as Russian Kettlebell Challenge. Contrary to what many people believe, RKC is not just about kettlebell training and it has never been geared towards Kettlebell Lifting or GS. In RKC, kettlebell has been the most used training tool for developing all-round fitness conditioning or GPP and I can see why. Kettlebell is an amazingly efficient training tool despite its simplicity. Where else can you find a tool that can give you strength and cardio training all in one piece of equipment? If you want strength, go do the double kettlebell squats or double kettlebell military press. You want a cardio session? No problem…do a heart-pumping and sweat pouring hardstyle kettlebell swing workout.

5 Principles of  Hardstyle Kettlebell Training (Russian Kettlebell Challenge Instructor Manual 2011)

Principle #1 – Do Training as Practice and not “Working Out”

“Working out” is something that I was guilty of in the past. If you “work out”, there is no focus on learning the skills on how you move. The trouble these days is people seems to get hurt doing workout. And I can see why when you see personal trainers offering “entertainment” workout sessions to their clients. The end results is injury. Why? The fact is most people don’t even have proficient movement patterns and basic level of general physical preparation (GPP). And when they start doing advanced movements that are beyond their bodies’ ability to cope with their bodies will just break down. The body just can’t performed sound techniques when it is “working out” and fatigue. In RKC or “Hardstyle”, practice of sound techniques is the priority and each repetition should geared towards better form not to make up for numbers.

Principle #2 – Focusing on Maximising Tension/Strength and Relaxation/Speed

Tension refers to force and Hardstyle Kettlebell Training teach you how to maximise tension to become stronger. But tension is not the full picture of what Hardstyle Kettlebell Training is as mentioned by Master RKC Brett Jones in his article “Clarifying Hardstyle”. It is about having precise muscle control and development of the skill.

With Relaxation, it refers to speed, endurance and flexibility. In “Hardstyle”, being able to relax quickly is the flip side of tension as  seen in the rapid firing sequences of tension and relaxation of a kettlebell swing.

Principle #3 – “Power Production Over Power Conservation” (Randy Hauer)

In quick lifts such as the “Hardstyle” Kettlebell Swings that require explosive muscle contraction, it is about producing maximum power with compensatory acceleration (CAT). CAT is a method where you deliberately accelerate the load through the concentric and eccentric phase of the lift instead of allowing the load alone to determine how one should move. Such explosive muscle contraction seemed in resistance training have been found in studies to be significantly more energy consuming during and after exercise compared to slow muscle contraction . This is possibility due to the preferential activation of fast-twitch fiber which can cost 3 to 4 times more energy than slow-twitch muscle fiber. And when you want to lose fat, you have to burn more calories and cause more post-workout energy consumption. This is exactly what kettlebell ballistic moves such as “hardstyle” swings, snatches and clean will do for you. Mazzetti S, Douglass M, Yocum A, Harber M. (2007) Effect of explosive versus slow contractions and exercise intensity on energy expenditure. Med Sci Sports Exerc 39(8):1291-301.

Hardstyle Kettlebell Training will develop better speed endurance, muscular endurance and cardiovascular conditioning you also get better fat loss with less time.

Principle #4 – Safety

Hardstyle kettlebell training is about teaching the body to distribute the load evenly throughout the body. And it make total sense. Our body is built to move as a whole unit and never built to move with a single joint. And by distributing the load evenly, there is much less stress on any part of the body and make it safer.

Principle #5 – Reverse Engineering of What the Strongest and Most Coordinated People Do Naturally

As said by powerlifting coach Louie Simmons: “Pavel has reverse engineered what the strongest athletes do naturally”. To me, Pavel has built a community of RKCs who are constantly improving and sharing and breaking down training information to further improve the strength training system within the RKC.

Laying the groundwork for your body to be Bulletproof

If you look and understand what Hardstyle is about, you will come to realise that it is training system that cover all bases for you. It ensures that you have the basic mobility, core conditioning, strength and strength endurance to deal with your daily task and become more resilience. Hardstyle training has a sole purpose of giving you a stronger body to serve you when there is demanding physical task you need to deal with. It is no surprise many top elite athletes and military personnel practice “Hardstyle”.

So should you train “hardstyle” with kettlebell?

If you’re looking at getting stronger in your sports, you should because “hardstyle” kettlebell training will make you a more powerful athlete. It’s interesting how one of my golfer clients told me that his long golf drive has so much more power and accuracy when I don’t even do so-called “Sports Specific” program with him. We just did “Hardstyle” when we focus on improving on his GPP.

If you’re looking for fat loss, the explosive nature of “hardstyle” kettlebell training will increase your metabolism and burn more fat. Seriously, why would you bother with doing those long distance running if your goal is to lose fat? “Hardstyle” Kettlebell Training will get you faster fat loss in less time.

And if you’re looking to gain all-round fitness and build a tough body, then there is no question “Hardstyle” Kettlebell Training will get you ready for that. The best place to get started with Hardstyle Kettlebell Training is go to http://www.dragondoor.com/instructors/rkc_instructors/

BTW, please hit the “Facebook” Like Button if you enjoyed this blogpost. Thanks in advance! 

As a kettlebell instructor and personal trainer, I feel that it is important to get my clients in the best shape possible in the safest way. I want to able to give them the best guidance possible and that is why I’m actively find ways to improve my health and fitness-related knowledge to best serve my clients. To me, it just make sense that if you want to get the best out of using the kettlebell you better know how to use it. Otherwise, you’ll be wasting your time on it. Seriously, watching instructional DVDs and reading books are not gonna help at all. Obviously, as a personal trainer I should be able to teach well with the kettlebells otherwise I’ll be doing all my clients a disservice.

Back in 2008 the year I was very broke, I decided to do the Australian Kettlebell Instructor (AKI) course which is the only recognized kettlebell training certification in Australia. That cost me more than a grand I think (not including hotel stays and airfares to Melbourne from Perth).  Although I got far better idea how to use the kettlebell, I still feel that there is more I could do to make this kettlebell training better for my clients and my personal fitness.  BTW, I also did many other fitness courses that I care to mention here. One thing is for sure no fitness-related courses except the RKC that I attended so far is anywhere near the depth of applied knowlegde and strict standards required of their certified instructors at the HKC.

Doubts About Hardstyle Kettlebell Certification (HKC)

Having learnt more than a dozen kettlebell moves such as swings, cleans, snatches, jerks, Turkish Get Up and military press in the Australian Kettlebell Instructor Certification workshop, I would have my doubts what else can I learn in the Hardstyle Kettlebell Certification workshop. Who would not? When you get so many kettlebell training courses in Australia that claimed to be the best offering to teach all the kettlebell exercises in 1 or 2 days at a ridiculously low price, anyone would think why part with your hard-earned money for just 3 exercises. To be honest, I was more than happy to part with my USD$499 to attend the HKC after I see the huge difference I made in my clients’ progress.

Why I Did the Hardstyle Kettlebell Certification (HKC) Workshop in Melbourne?

As I had signed up for the Russian Kettlebell Challenge (RKC) workshop that I attended in April this year, I was advised by RKC Team Leader Andrew Read that it is in my best interest to attend the HKC workshop prior to heading off to the RKC course. Well, I thought I’ll give it a go and see how it is like since I’ll be doing the RKC anyway. At the same time, I thought I can see how it compares to the AKI that I did before.

BTW, in this day and age it seems everyone are personal trainers and everyone claims to be some kind of kettlebell guru too. And I want to be able to stand out as a kettlebell instructor in what I can offer. Therefore, it’s just common sense to me to attend the golden standard in kettlebell training in the world.

My Personal Experience at HKC

Yes at the HKC you learnt only kettlebell swings, globlet squats and Turkish Get Up and will be tested on those exercises. In my opinion, this course is cleverly put together with very high focus on how to perform these 3 essential kettlebell moves at high precision. If you can’t do this 3 moves well, you’re not gonna do well with other advanced kettlebell moves. For example, you can’t really snatch properly when you can’t swing forcefully from your hip.  You can’t really do the military press well when you can’t steer the kettlebell with stability over head in a Get Up. The problem is with most other kettlebell courses and places where they teach kettlebells, they’re probably not going to address all these issues. In fact, the more I look at the 3  exercises the more I see them as foundational building blocks to not only gaining high level of fitness that includes strength, flexibility and fat loss but also preventing unnecessary injuries.  The truth is you can’t get past these 3 moves until you’re perfect with them. Otherwise, you’ll find it very hard to learn the other kettlebell moves and end up coming back to them.

At no other fitness courses, I get so much intense attention, details and depth of applied knowledge than the HKC. I’ve never come across a course that would look so deep into individual difference and have a customised corrective drills to ensure your clients will be moving at his or her peak. Honestly, what’s all the use of theory when you can’t apply what actually works. Other kettlebell courses would just let you go if you can just do a swing. Quite frankly, not all swings are the same and if you’re not doing your swings right you could be hurting yourself potentially as well as hindering your progress in your kettlebell training. For awhile, I was not doing my kettlebell swings in the best way and as a results I hurt my left shoulder doing the snatches. As a kettlebell instructor and responsible fitness professional, the last thing you want is hurt your clients.

At the HKC Melbourne, I had Senior RKC Shaun Cairns and RKC Team Leader Andrew Read. Seriously, you couldn’t ask for a better combination of RKC instructors to teach at a Kettlebell Training workshop. Why? Shaun has been with the RKC for ages and Andrew is a raising star in RKC. Both of them are very passionate about the system that is being taught at the School of Strength referring to RKC or Pavel’s teaching and they never left out any details that can make a huge difference in how you used the kettlebells. Just have a look at what you can get from this duo at the HKC in the video below:

My Clients Experience & Their Satisfaction

Ever since I completed both the HKC and RKC workshops and applying what I have learnt, I noticed a massive satisfaction and  improvement in my clients fitness and fat loss. I have a person who lost 10 kilograms in 12 weeks and a person who is completely back pain-free after 6 years of pain-killer. I even got a girl who can do 20kg Get-Up. To see how satisfied my clients are, just watch the videos below:

The RKC Difference

The RKC training is gear towards laying a solid foundation of general physical preparation also known as GPP. What is GPP by the way? According to late Mel Siff, “The GPP is intended to provide balanced physical conditioning in endurance, strength, speed, flexibility and other basic factors of fitness…”. The truth is laying a solid foundation of GPP is what most people need. Most people who exercise do not have a solid foundation of GPP and that is why they get hurt doing sports and even doing daily chores such as gardening or carrying things at work. And there’re many personal trainers who missed the boat and try to go all fancy with training and got clients to do things that their body is not prepared for. HKC will help you lay a solid foundation of GPP and arm you with the knowledge to get you and your clients to get there if you’re a personal trainer.

Personally, I’ve applied in myself and most of my clients with the 3 key moves alone I learnt at HKC and seen huge difference in mine and my client’s progress. For me, I had experienced personal breakthrough in my Get-Ups from 32kg to 48kg even with my previously injured left shoulder .

The thing with the Hardstyle Kettlebell Training is that it has never been about wearing the body out with workout. It is always about training the body to be stronger and to perform better at its best for you in all physical aspect of your life.

Why You Should Do the HKC

As far as I can see and experience, the HKC is definitely an advanced level personal training course. If you care about your training, want to perform at your best, not injure yourself and care about your fitness career and your clients, then this is a kettlebell course you should take. I guarantee you won’t regret attending it. If you’re planning to do the RKC certification, please do yourself a favour and do HKC. It will help.

If you’re in Perth and want to experience the best in kettlebell training, do check out this webpage at this link here: Perth Kettlebell